Showdown(Part 2)
Episode 10, the season finale, of season three, of War. If you've made it this far, have a complimentary hug. <3 Showdown The dark brown tom looked at the hastily drawn map. He shook his head, tired. "Come on," his friend coaxed beside him. The ginger tom leaned forward intently, eyes glittering with something the dark tom could not identify. The dark tom placed a claw delicately on a spot close to the border between two territories. "There. A camp's there, if you attack...the refugees going into EarthClan will force them into the war." "What if the refugees go somewhere else?" the ginger tom asked. "Then EarthClan will be spooked and will join the war to finish WaterClan off, just so FireClan doesn't attack them." "You've been very helpful. I'll make sure everyone knows this was your plan." the ginger tom turned to leave. "You killed Firestar didn't you?" The ginger tom turned slowly, his eyes unreadable. The dark tom continued, "When I went in the den he was already dead. And you were skulking around." "No one can prove anything." the ginger tom whispered. "It was a good thing though, he was senile...weak..." he shook his head. "Just remember, I'm the only thing between you and FireClan, old friend. Be careful." the last words, which should have been gentle advice turned to a veiled threat as the ginger tom stalked out. The dark tom looked at the map, wondering how things could have gone so wrong. Shadowsong and Oakclaw raced through Main. FireClan cats were streaming in, killing, destroying dens. The screams of their Clanmates reached their ears and Shadowsong shivered. "We have to help," Oakclaw shouted to be heard over the noise. Shadowsong nodded, "Where, though?" Oakclaw looked around then meowed, "Residential areas. A lot of the cats there are kits or elders or sick." She swerved past a body, not looking at it. Oakclaw threaded his way into the residential area where the screams picked up. We're going to die, Shadowsong thought wildly. We're going to die and we were too stupid to just admit we cared for each other. Oakclaw dove at a FireClan tom advancing on a squealing queen. The FireClan cat was dead before he hit the ground. The queen whispered a thanks, but the two warriors were pelting off again. A pair of kits sat, wailing at their mother's still body. Shadowsong choked back a yowl of rage. She skidded to a halt by the kits and they shrieked. She was uncomfortably aware of the blood on her teeth, her paws, her pelt. "Come on," she picked up one of the kits in her jaws and Oakclaw grabbed the other. "Medthin den" Oakclaw mumbled around the kit. Shadowsong nodded and headed for the leader's clearing where the medicine dens were situated. Immediately she wished they had just left the kits there. Or given them to some other family. She didn't let herself look closely. She just caught flashes of blood and screams and stink and death. Oakclaw set his kit down and Shadowsong did the same. They weren't in danger, so she felt alright leaving. As soon as she got out of the medicine den clearing, she just crumpled. Get it together. You've seen this before. Not this. Not here. Oakclaw sat beside her, curling his body around hers as she sobbed. I race. Raced for everything I'd been through the past moon, raced for my mother, my father, my brother. For Gorsefur and Adderscar, left behind in my dust, for the recruits protecting my home, for Shadowsong and Oakclaw, doing who knows what at Main. For my kithood and Clan, for family and friends. I burst into camp. "FireClan is coming! Everyone needs to get out, now!" It would have worked, perhaps, had it not been the dead of night. There were groans and I hear rustles, but no one pops their heads out, not even the recruits. "FireClan," I shriek. "Everyone up now!" Finally, Braveclaw pokes his head out of his den, "Brookfall?" "FireClan is coming!" I yowl. "We need to get out, have the warriors prepare." Alarm flashes on his face and he joins my yowls. The camp starts to blossom with movement, but not soon, not soon enough. I expected to be sobbing, but I am steely calm. Finally I've managed to neatly package my feelings away and just be myself. But was it too late? I charge back out of camp, hearing the recruits fall in behind me. Gorsefur and Adderscar are pelting down the path. Gorsefur has a cut above his eye and Adderscar yowls, "They're coming! We have to go!" My stomach clenches with fear, but I stand my ground. Gorsefur skidds to a halt beside me, "Brookfall, we have to-" "They need time," I tell him. "They need time to get out, we need to hold them off here." "There are too many," he isn't telling me to go back, just stating a fact. Telling me we're probably going to die. The urge to tell him how I feel rises up, but I choke it down. I am a soldier of WaterClan, not the shy she-cat who fell head over paws with the handsome second. I am strong and I will not give FireClan the satisfaction of knowing they scared me. Gorsefur looks into my eyes and I allow myself to drink him in hungrily. His golden eyes, the scars, that little tuft of fur that never seems to lie flat. "Grayleaf," he meows, "Go back to camp. You can do more good helping evacuate." The little tom looks like he wants to argue, but he just nods and hurries off. Good, I think. The FireClan cats are approaching now. I gulp, expecting to feel tears stinging my eyes. But there is nothing, just a cold feeling in my heart and stomach. Gorsefur presses against me. The FireClan cats burst through the trees. I close my eyes, hoping my mother gets away, hoping Riverkit has a nice life. I open my eyes. Gorsefur nods and we lunge forward. Shadowsong felt ridiculous. This was ridiculous. Her camp was being attacked, and what was she doing? Crying. She tried to pull it together for the umpteenth time and failed. Oakclaw continued soothing her. "Why am I being like this?" she whispered. "Shadowsong, you are the strongest, toughest, most stubborn cat I know," Oakclaw told her. She snorted, but it came out a sob. "You keep everything locked up inside that icy thing you call a heart and that doesn't work. You just explode sometimes. And sometimes that happens to be at the worst possible time." She sniffled pathetically, wanting to smack herself. Oakclaw sighed, "Listen, Shadowsong, I know you. You're not afraid of anything. Well, you're afraid of FireClan. Sometimes. But you've always pulled it together. Your Clan needs you." The tears were lessening. "How come you aren't crying? You're not exactly open with your feelings." "Yeah, but I'm not a she-cat." he dodged her paw, purring. "There's the Shadowsong we all know and fear!" The tears fell less quickly now and she stood, taking a shuddering breath. "Sorry. Okay, I'm back." "Good. Okay, I say we just go around and try to kill as many FireClan cats as possible." FireClan. Dark holes that served as prison and splashes of blood and shrieks and- "Hey, hey," Oakclaw forced her to look at him. "You're going to do fine, do you know why?" She shook her head, not trusting herself to speak. "Because if I kill more, I'm calling second for life," he darted off and she purred, chasing after him. How on earth did I ever become so lucky? There are too many, Gorsefur was right. But I do take down a lot. Usually, I try to focus on maiming rather than killing. It's not that I'm squeamish, but the evil part of me kinda enjoys that the cat has to suffer through moons of healing instead of just going up to StarClan. But I digress. The FireClan cats force us further and further towards WaterClan, but we're doing alright for five cats against what is easily five squads. Well, probably four squads by now, we did kill quite a few. Finally, I feel the camp entrance prickling my pelt and I realize we're about to let them into the camp. Adderscar and Briarclaw are hanging onto the edge of our group, fighting not to get separated. If they do, they'll be massacred Stormflight is hacking away, looking closed off. He's bleeding heavily from a shoulder bite, but he just cuts and slices and slashes. Gorsefur is alive with the light of battle. He's downed three FireClan warriors already and is snapping at a fourth. I feel a stupid sense of pride. Little by little though, we back into camp. I look around, and to my horror, WaterClan cats are still mostly running around like birds with their heads bitten off. "We have to-" I begin. Then I fall back. Blood pools form my flank and a FireClan cat leers at me. Gorsefur slams into the cat and they tumble away. But now only three cats guard the entrance and FireClan cats push through. Shrieks go up. No, please no... I look for my mother and see her and Riverkit crouched by the nursery. She stares at me, mouth working helplessly. The FireClan cats whoop and start targeting cats, not killing, driving them out of camp. They don't expect the WaterClan cats to be prepared to fight. They want to just drive the terrified cats to EarthClan and be done with it, but we fight back. And so, slowly, they stop trying to just injure. First one, then another WaterClan cat goes down. I know them, I know their names. I struggle to my paws, trying to get to my mother and Riverkit. A FireClan cat looms before me and I swipe at it weakly, screeching for my mother. And then Gorsefur is there. Together, we drive off the FireClan cat. "You're bleeding," he tells me. "Bleeding is in, I hear," I meow. "Go to your mom, I'll cover you." Thank you. I rush to my mother and Riverkit, time seeming to slow down. And it slows further as three FireClan cats turn their eyes to the nursery. Riverkit runs to me, squeaking. My mother calls for him to stop, chasing after him. A FireClan cat catches her, sweeping her off her paws. Her blue eyes are on mine and her mouth forms my name. Brookfall. I cover Riverkit as my mother's blood splashes over me. Oakclaw had kept true to his word. He never strayed from Shadowsong's side, but he did try very hard to kill more cats than her. At one point, he even grabbed the FireClan cat she was about to bite and killed it himself. "No fair, you cheated!" she told him. He rolled his eyes and she wondered how far they'd come in their hatred for FireClan that killing them became a game. Suddenly, a howl went up. The FireClan cats perked their ears and retreated. "Where are they going?" Shadowsong asked wearily. "I don't know." Oakclaw meowed. He swayed on his paws, exhausted. The pair made their way to where all the other cats began to gather. Waterstar stood, looking stricken. "FireClan has sent a courier telling us we can either surrender now, or FireClan will lay siege to our camp." "We can't surrender!" someone screamed. The WaterClan cats took up the cheer and Waterstar nodded. "FireClan has completely evacuated from our camp, which was a mistake on their part. We can hold them off. I will send cats out to get reinforcements from other camps and we will drive them away!" There was a cheer, albeit a weak one. Shadowsong pressed against Oakclaw. "We have to go," Gorsefur told me again. I sat, crouched over Riverkit, turned away from my mother's corpse. "I know." "Come on then, there's nothing you can do." The pain in his eyes is real, he knows what it's like to lose someone. That's what convinces me to finally get up. The FireClan cats haven't noticed us yet, too busy attacking a small group of survivors. I see Braveclaw. He turns and catches my eye, nodding at me. Go. Gorsefur lopes away. I follow him, carrying Riverkit who wails. I look around, wanting to see the survivors. Adderscar, Stormflight, Grayleaf, and Briarclaw wait for us, bloody and exhausted. "Where's everyone else?" I croak after I put down Riverkit. The recruits look at their paws and a scream begins to build in my throat. I turn back to Summerstorm to see it swarming with FireClan and the dead. I open my mouth, needing to let out the pain, needing to make it go away, needing, needing... Gorsefur leaps on top of me, clamping a paw over my mouth. "If you scream they'll hear us," he meows, "We'll die, Riverkit will die." I don't care anymore, I struggle and finally stop, collapsing into sobs. Gorsefur finally lets go of me and I curl up. Everything I have ever known just died in that clearing. My home was intruded upon and destroyed and my family hunted down and killed. A small paw pokes me. "Don't cry Brookfall." Riverkit looks at me with enormous blue eyes and I almost turn away. Almost let myself close off, let myself become broken and unfixable. But I have to keep going. "Pain is apart of life." my mother would tell me when I complained about having no friends my age or being bored or sad. "It's how you know you're still alive." She won't have anymore pain. I tell myself, whimpering. I get to my paws and give Riverkit a lick. "It's okay, I'm better now." He nods, then looks at Grayleaf, "I made her feel better." Grayleaf purrs and tells him good job. "We should go back to Main, tell them what happened." Gorsefur says. "What about Riverkit?" I meow. "We'll take him with us." "No offense, but I'm pretty sure we qualify as the five cats least qualified to raise a kit." Adderscar meows. I purr, despite myself. "Well, we won't introduce him to Oakclaw or anything," Briarclaw says. "That's got to count for something, right?" They press against me comfortingly, continuing the banter. I let myself be swept away in the warm pelts and the knowing that I'm not alone. Riverkit tries futilely to get in on the action, but he's too short. "We should go," Gorsefur finally meows. As quietly as we can, we creep away from Summerstorm. I turn for a moment, squeezing my eyes shut. My mother purring. My father telling me about the Clans of old. Braveclaw watching over my training. That's what I will remember. Not this broken husk of a camp, the ghosts of my family haunting it forever. "Come on Brookfall," Riverkit meows. He's taking himself very seriously, telling Stormflight all about how he's going to be the best warrior ever and asking if he can get some training now. I know later, there will be questions. Where's mom, why isn't she here? When can I go home? But for now, I am just grateful to not be alone. I pad off, catching Riverkit up in my mouth and purring as he squeals with joy. Gorsefur watches me sadly. My little broken family. The brown she-cat stretched. It was a beautiful day. She could see the mountains in the distance, the rolling hills to the other direction. It was days like this that made her glad she was a leader. "Earthstar!" She looked up to see a courier, Mousestep. She purred a hello and Mousestep dipped her head. "I have news from the border. FireClan just obliterated a WaterClan camp on our border." Earthstar stiffened. She stood and looked out over her Main camp. Brown and stone gray cats darted about, calling hellos and chatting. Her Clan. She had to protect it. She bowed her head. "Please assemble the generals and medicine cats. For a war council." Mousestep's eyes widened, but she nodded and darted out. StarClan help me, Earthstar thought. But I can't let FireClan come here. It's WaterClan or us. And I will not let my Clan down. Category:Artimas Hunter's Fanfics